PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — (AP) — The crowds following Rory McIlroy for three days at Royal Portrush have been enormous, a reminder of the expectations. On banners and flags and buntings of grandstands there are images of the claret jug, a reminder of what's at stake at the British Open.
But add this to the list of what makes golf's oldest championship so distinct from the other majors: Every year it feels like a new experience.
Justin Thomas contemplated that Wednesday when he finished up his third day playing the course, a practice schedule that is never this full at any other major.
“I came to the realization the last couple of years that playing is better, because your ball goes into weird places,” he said. "I can go out and chip all day, and get used to the turf and the speed of the greens. But the more you play, the more shots you're hitting in places where you never would in practice.
“You get out here in a different wind and it can be, ‘Wow, I didn’t think I'd be here.'”
There is another element to this major that stands out from the U.S. Open and PGA Championship. Amid the nerves and the pressure of a major is the true joy of playing links golf.
"I feel like I'm learning more and more each time I come over here," said Scottie Scheffler, the world's No. 1 player who is in his fifth British Open. "Each golf course is different, too. Irish links so far is quite a bit different than Scottish links. It's a bit greener over here. You have to play more shots in the air. ... There's a lot of different shots you have to play.
“It's an interesting course," he said. "And from what I've seen, it seems to be really fun to play and very fair.”
Fair is a loose word in these parts, with all of the humps and crazy bounces, with pot bunkers to be avoided on so many shots, with a hole like the par-3 16th known as “Calamity Corner” that lives up to the name by looks alone.
McIlroy isn't sure he got a fair deal in 2019 when his opening tee shot went left, normally not a big deal except at Royal Portrush there is internal out of bounds, and McIlroy went just beyond the stakes, which sent him into a downward spiral — a quadruple bogey, a 79 and a short week.
He did not return to the Portrush links in his native Northern Ireland until Monday morning, and then he was out playing all three days of practice.
“I have a real appreciation for how well bunkered it is off the tee,” McIlroy said. "It's like, ‘OK, I can't hit 2-iron off the tee, but that brings this bunker into play. But then if I hit driver, it’ll bring in this bunker.' So you have to take on the shot.
“Some courses that we go to in the Open rota, you can just take the bunkers out of play,” he said. “Here, there's always one bunker or another bunker in play. So I think off the tee, it provides a very, very good test.”
McIlroy was among those who felt refreshed when he finished the meat of the PGA Tour season — five signature events, The Players Championship, three majors, all in a span of three months — and arrived in the United Kingdom. The scenery, the temperature, the brand of golf, all of it felt so new, almost like he was starting a new season.
Thomas felt the same way. There is a buzz in the heavy, seaside air off the North Atlantic, no matter how stiff the challenge and how much the weather changes.
The forecast? It's generally been referred to as “mixed,” which in these parts tends to mean it changes without notice. The final day of practice was sunshine and breezy.
Thomas was playing the 16th while his father showed video of them watching in the final round in 2019, wind and rain ripping so hard that umbrellas were useless.
Thomas remembers standing on the 17th tee and calling over a rules official to ask if they were meant to be playing. He wanted to hit 3-wood off the tee, but it was 209 yards to the fairway and the wind was so strong he didn't think he could get there. So he went with driver, hit some 75 yards off line and made triple bogey.
On his final day of practice, with sunshine and a helping wind, he hit a mini-driver that would have stopped near the front of the green on the 409-yard hole if it hadn't found a bunker.
This is what he loves about links golf.
"Not only do the holes change, how easy or hard they are, your lines off the tee can change," he said "You have elevation. You're never writing 'uphill' or 'downhill' in the yardage book like you are at an Open Championship. You have a game plan, but you really can't until you're out there and whatever the weather is giving you."
Thomas looked back on the 18th green before going to sign autographs for a group of children.
“If I could only play one course the rest of my life it would be links,” Thomas said. "Because you could play the same course every day for a month and get something different.
“I love The Open. Every time I've played it, I love the tournament more and more,” he said. “I really want to have a chance to win the tournament and walk up the 18th hole. Seems like it would be the coolest thing in the world.”
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